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David Cameron puts Sri Lanka on notice over war crime allegations

David Cameron talks with Tamil people at the Sabapathi Pillay Welfare Centre in Jaffna

Reuters

British prime minister David Cameron has put Sri Lanka on notice to address allegations of war crimes within months or else he will lead a push for a United Nations investigation.

Speaking at a Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Colombo, the British premier warned Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse that pressure over alleged abuses at the end of Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict was not about to go away.

But Mr Rajapakse has responded by insisting that Sri Lanka should be trusted to conduct its own inquiries and warned against international pressure on his regime's human rights record.

"People in glass houses must not throw stones," Mr Rajapakse said in a press conference in Colombo where he is chairing a CHOGM summit.

Mr Cameron, who made an historic visit to Sri Lanka's war-torn north on Friday, also said he had "frank" exchanges with Mr Rajapakse on his return.

"The Sri Lankan government needs to go further and faster on human rights and reconciliation," he said.

"Ultimately all this is about reconciliation and closure and healing to this country, which now has the chance, if it takes it, of a much brighter future but that will only happen by dealing with these issues and not ignoring them.

"The message I have is that this issue will not go away and needs to be pursued vigorously."

The UN says as many as 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final stages of the war in May 2009 when Tamil Tiger rebels were crushed by government troops.

However, Mr Rajapakse has denied any civilians were killed and has also blocked all calls for an independent probe into claims of war crimes committed by government forces against the Tamil population in the Jaffna region.

Mr Cameron said the Sri Lankan president wanted more time to address the claims but told Mr Rajapakse to deliver by March or else he would push for an international investigation through UN human rights bodies.

"Let me be very clear, if an investigation is not completed by March, then I will use our position on the UN Human Rights Council to work with the UN Human Rights Commission and call for a full, credible and independent international inquiry," he said.

Bloody history, uncertain future

Rajapakse calls for trust

Mr Rajapakse said Mr Cameron was welcome to his view but added Sri Lanka must be allowed to complete its own investigation in its own time.

"They have to trust us," he said.

"Pressure won't do anything ... It's much better to wait rather than demand or dictate.

"We will take our own time and investigate, you must wait."

Sri Lanka's economic development minister Basil Rajapakse has also rejected the idea of foreign investigators operating on Sri Lankan soil.

"Why should we have an international inquiry?" he said.

"Definitely, we are not going to allow it."

The economic development minister said he was opposed to Mr Cameron's March deadline.

"They can't give dates, it is not fair, " the minister said.

Historic visit

Mr Cameron paid a "harrowing" visit to the Tamil community of Jaffna on Friday, upstaging the first day of the CHOGM meeting in Colombo.

Just minutes after CHOGM's opening ceremony in the capital Colombo, the British premier flew to the Tamil community of Jaffna, the scene of some of the worst fighting during the three decades-long civil war.

He received an emotional reception in Jaffna from locals who told him of their plight during the war and in its aftermath.

Dozens of protestors, many clutching photos of their missing loved ones, took to the streets as Mr Cameron toured the main town in the north.

Though police with shields tried to keep them away, some women managed to break through and several tried to hurl themselves at his motorcade.

Mr Cameron is the first foreign leader to visit Jaffna since the former British colony gained independence in 1948.

Some four years after the end of its brutal civil war Sri Lanka is a country in limbo, mired in its violent past as a future of economic prosperity beckons, writes Tom Iggulden.

Commonwealth insists boycott-hit CHOGM a success

The head of the Commonwealth has rejected suggestions the controversy-hit CHOGM summit would fail to produce real results, as it prepared to wrap up three days of talks.

Secretary general Kamalesh Sharma denied discussions during CHOGM were lightweight given that only 27 of the 53 members of the blog have sent their heads of government.

"The Commonwealth is distinguished by the fact that it's a very issues based organisation," Mr Sharma said.

"As far as the outcomes are concerned, you will find at the end of this CHOGM, that it has been very productive, and it has been very meaningful and successful."

Discussions at the summit, including on debt relief for small member countries and financing projects to battle climate change, have been overshadowed by the row over Sri Lanka's alleged rights abuses.

However, Mr Sharma said the level of discussion at the biennial summit in Colombo was in no way lower than in previous years.

"They (delegations) all come with the equal willingness and enthusiasm to contribute to the causes that have brought them here," he said.

"They are countries from all parts of the world, they've got national issues on their mind...they've collective global issues on their mind."